Health Care of America Plan

We are a group of individuals motivated to make the practice of medicine better for patients and providers alike through health care policy reform. To this end we are participating in the O'ConnorReport Contest. This paper presents our submission; it includes an introduction and overview, an outline of our plan, and an accounting of the 10 terms and conditions of the contest.

INTRODUCTION:

The O'ConnorReport developed in response to the ongoing problems that we have had in this country in providing good health care for most, if not all, of our citizens. The depth and history of these problems have been outlined elsewhere and will not therefore be recapitulated here. Suffice it to say, we are indeed in a health care crisis; like most crises, we are compelled to act but are heeded to go forth with patience, as large problems are not usually fixed in small amounts of time. We call our submission to the O'ConnorReport the Health Care of America Plan. It includes directives on short-term start up planning, while incorporating space and time for feedback and fine-tuning and addressing longer-term issues.

Our Health Care of America Plan aims to provide a certain and basic level of high quality care for all citizens. Many services are not covered, and just when a service becomes luxury care versus basic care is a difficult issue for all involved in trying to create a more just and sustainable system. Currently, basic health care services are rationed based on ability to pay; it's an "all or nothing" system. Under our plan, it becomes an "all or basic coverage" system. This is both the strength and weakness of the plan. In an ideal world in which participants in the political systems are highly motivated to create policies and laws to facilitate quality of life improvements for all of its citizens, and in which governments value balanced budget spending and investing financially in the future, there could be more support and resources for creating a more perfect health care plan. This thought is not intended as idle political commentary; it is included to indicate one (of several) of the real and imposing barriers to creating a more comprehensive universal health care plan. Given our political and economic system, this is the most humane and feasible plan that we can envision at this time. We have incorporated flexibility and ongoing assessment mechanisms within this system so that it can grow in response to future needs and to varying sociopolitical climates.

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